This invention is directed to the field of computerized warning systems. It is more particularly directed to providing information regarding the presence of a special object in an environ.
A handicapped individual or special equipment (containing medical or radioactive material and/or, waste, ambulance, police vehicle, fire vehicle) needs access to telecommunications and computer controlled equipment to let it be known of their being in a particular moving or still environ, and require special attention from [and/or by] others entering (or located in) that environ. Similarly environs and/or objects in a particular environ have to be protected from objects that enter that environ to which the environs and/or objects are sensitive. In some situations both the entering object and the environ both have mutual protection.
Various apparatus have been proposed to provide general warning alarms and notification. But these do not enable the handicapped person to let these situations be known to those in the environ so as to protect/preserve/serve that individual, special equipment and/or the others entering (or located in) that environ, and/or to let the environs and/or an object in the environ know that an object to which it is sensitive is entering or is in that environ.
For example, Ewert""s invention U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,026 provides an animal collision avoidance system for vehicle accident prevention. It uses electromagnetic transmissions for alerting drivers to unanticipated accident threats such as pedestrians, bicyclists, complete joggers, emergency vehicles, disabled vehicles, and alerts pedestrians that the vehicle is approaching thereby inducing them to move to the side of the road. It further transmit a preprogrammed array of natural sounds to induce animals and people to vacate the path of the approaching vehicle.
Graham et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,201, provide a broadcasting [alerting] apparatus to broadcast a visual and audible warning in an area about a site employing RF links without dedicated receivers. It warns of an emergency situation having a transmitter responsive to a visual or acoustic alerting system for transmitting an alarm signal on an RF carrier and a control signal on a sideband, preferably in commercial broadcast band transferring from a normal operating mode transfers to an emergency mode upon detection of the control signal and converts the alarm signal to an acoustic signal.
Lieberman in U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,882 provides a human subject vigilance, (activity and alertness) monitor having ambient sensors and being adapted to detect the human subject response to the stimuli, and a controller programmed to receive information from the environmental or ambient sensors, to control the stimulators and record the human subject""s response to the stimuli via the human response sensors.
Lemelson et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,514 provides a system/apparatus for monitoring a geographic person location, periodically warning a person of emergency situations in the geographic location, and transmitting requests for assistance in emergency situations. The system/apparatus employ a geographic satellite receiver, a receiver circuit to receive broadcast warning signals defining dangerous situations and geographic locations of the situations, a computer controller, an alarm indicator, and a transmission circuit to generates and transmits signals requesting assistance, a detailed command center to monitor and communicate with the person using it.
Allport in U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,1777 provides a community alarm and notification apparatus employing the telephone line communications system and device for providing a notification or warning of pending or imminent danger to the public via a warning signal and geographic coverage for such signal. The apparatus is coupled to individual telephone lines within homes and businesses. It monitors the telephone line for specific codes, and is activated upon receipt of such codes.
Wilkinson in U.S. Pat. No. 5,892,447 provides a battery operated warning system to a person about proximity of a particular other (threatening) person. Kubes et al., provide in U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,695 a visual alarm employing an organic electroluminescent material sealed within a portable radio telephone along with the control grids to cause the material to luminesce in a pixilated pattern in response to an alarm message.
Cambhi in U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,283 provides apparatus for monitoring subjects and vehicles which have location determining device which provides the location of the subject to a processor with respect to predefined safety or security related limits including geographical boundaries, and to alert concerned individuals so that proper corrective action may be taken. The apparatus may be configured to provide interactivity with the user to allow user correction of adverse conditions.
Abita et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,238 provides a transportation system apparatus to assist blind or visually impaired travelers that they have entered a potentially dangerous area proximal to an edge of boarding platforms of the type typically found in railway and other types of transit systems. It employs an Infrared Integrated Indicating System with an array of optical emitters and a portable detector/warning device to be held by a visually handicapped traveler and a second indicator to provide confirmation to the visually handicapped traveler that doors are open as he or she prepares to board. These above described prior inventions are not related to provide general often bi-directional protection to individuals, generally, and/or handicapped persons employing sensation alarms, and/or to protecting hazardous material as in the present invention.
It would also be advantageous to have a means to enable the handicapped person or special equipment to let these situations be known to those in the environ so as to protect/preserve/serve that individual, special equipment and/or the others or other objects entering (or located in) that environ.
It is therefore an aspect of the present invention to present methods and apparatus to provide for a special object such as a handicapped individual and/or special equipment (containing medical or radioactive material and/or waste, ambulance, police vehicle, fire vehicle) with access to telecommunications and computer controlled equipment. The equipment being such as to let it be known of the special object being in a particular moving or still environ, and requiring special attention from [and/or by] others entering (or located in) that environ. In another aspect of the invention, the methods and apparatus enable the handicapped person or special equipment to let their special situations be known to those in the environ so as to protect/preserve/serve that individual, special equipment and/or the others entering (or located in) that environ.
In another aspect of the invention, a computerized transmitting telecommunications apparatus is made available to the handicapped individual [or special equipment] which transmits an alarm type signal that a handicapped individual [or special equipment] is in the environ. The signal is transmitted to (or for the use of) others entering (or located in), or responsible for that environ. The computerized apparatus/method being adapted to be responsive to particular sensations, [seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling] which are operational in the particular handicapped individual. In some case the special object [handicapped individual] may have a level of (bi-directional) interactivity with their environ and/or those responsible for the environ and/or the special object via the computerized telecommunications apparatus/method.
In still another aspect of the invention, a recipient of the information has cooperative equipment to seek, receive and react to the information in manners that respond to the special object and/or the phenomenon in the information causing the need for a response.
In an alternative aspect, the invention provides cell phone control for enabling, restricting, inhibiting and re-enabling cell phone use in an environ.
In a further aspect of the invention, to provide for responding to a phenomenon by temporarily restricting the cause of a unwanted, dangerous and/or undesirable situation or restricting the special object in accordance with a priority policy
Other objects and a better understanding of the invention may be realized by referring to the detailed description.